UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (NNN-XINHUA) — Armed attacks and insecurity in Burkina Faso have triggered a massive displacement of people, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Nearly 136,000 people have been uprooted from their homes, over half of them since the start of 2019. Around 11,000 people have also fled to neighboring Mali, said OCHA in a press release.
More than 95 percent of the internally displaced are living in host communities, depending for most part on the already limited humanitarian aid available. This is putting further strain on an already fragile scenario as violence and drought triggered alarming levels of food insecurity and malnutrition last year.
This year, more than 676,000 people are facing chronic food insecurity, including 587,000 children under five years who are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, said OCHA.
Violence has forced more than 954 schools to close, depriving 119,000 children of education in six regions. Some 4,263 teachers have been affected.
Several schools have been torched and learning materials destroyed. Three teachers have been killed and others threatened or abducted. Some school children have also been killed in armed raids. In certain localities, not a single school is functioning, said OCHA.
About 250,000 people do not have access to medical care as health centers have been forced shut or have cut back services, it said.
Humanitarian workers are scaling up their presence to cope with the escalating needs and increase the scope and pace of operations in support of the government, said OCHA. Relief efforts are focusing on providing emergency food, water, health services and protection.
Humanitarian partners have requested 100 million U.S. dollars to provide 900,000 people with life-saving aid. To date, only 21 percent of the funding has been received, said OCHA. — NNN-XINHUA